Opinion: We must take better care of our oceans

This week, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre celebrates 60 years since opening our doors. That’s six decades of inspiring Canadians, of saving marine mammals in distress, and of research to understand how humans are impacting wild populations and ecosystems.

This week, Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre celebrates 60 years since opening our doors. That’s six decades of inspiring Canadians, of saving marine mammals in distress, and of research to understand how humans are impacting wild populations and ecosystems.

We have much to be proud of. But as I reflect on how far we’ve come, and on how far we hope to go, I know we need to do more to care for our oceans. We all do — it’s our responsibility.

Although we depend on our oceans for more than 60 per cent of the world’s oxygen, for weather regulation and for food that sustains more than 1.25 billion people, we’ve been careless with what we’re realizing now is a limited resource.

Canada has skin in this game: at more than 200,000 kilometres, ours is easily the world’s longest coastline. These are high stakes and we know it. According to an Insights West poll*, 90 per cent of Canadians think about the oceans, with 47 per cent doing so “all of the time” or “often.” Three in four Canadians (76 per cent) think we are doing too little to conserve and preserve our oceans.

In fact, it was a Canadian delegation that first introduced the notion of a World Oceans Day in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. It became official six years later, when the United Nations passed a resolution to designate June 8 as the day we raise global awareness of challenges faced in connection with the oceans.

We haven’t made much progress since then. In 2016, humans are putting greater pressure on our blue planet than ever before, and the challenges are only increasing.

Our changing climate affects the ocean in obvious ways: rising sea levels and increasingly powerful storms are impossible to miss, but there are other consequences as well. Although the oceans help reduce climate change by storing large amounts of carbon dioxide, increasing levels of dissolved carbon are changing the chemistry of sea water and making it more acidic.

Bigger fishing vessels and advances in equipment and methods have made it possible for commercial fishing operations to capture more fish, further from home. An astounding 90 per cent of all large fish are already gone from our oceans.

Man-made pollutants that reach the ocean include plastics, pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage and other solids. Many of them are consumed by small marine organisms and from there, contaminate the entire food web.

We can each do small things every day to help protect our oceans. From choosing sustainable seafood, to cleaning our shorelines, to reducing our energy use, to properly disposing of plastic materials, every small step we take helps in our global collective effort.

As Vancouver Aquarium celebrates 60 years of ocean conservation this year, I’ve thought about the many ways we’ve effected change. Through six decades, we’ve connected more than 40 million visitors to aquatic life — these connections are often the first spark of interest needed for people to care about the world around us, about the fragile ecosystems that are being disrupted and about the oceans that are being depleted.

As I look at what lies ahead, my hope is that humankind can see we’ve arrived at a tipping point. Every step we take to slow down the impact we’re having on the planet contributes to the collective shift needed to protect the world around us. Since it’s our birthday, we invite you to join the celebration by taking your own small steps to help us tip the balance in favour of our oceans.

* Results are based on an online study conducted from May 4 to 9, 2016, among a representative sample of 1,122 Canadian adults.

John Nightingale is the president and CEO of the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre.

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